Fishing News
Divers to remove abandoned fishing net - `Ghost net' draped over undersea cliff near San Juans a threat to marine life, divers
By Rebecca Cook
OLYMPIA - An abandoned fishing net hundreds of feet long lurks beneath the water near San Juan Island, snaring fish and creating danger for recreational divers.
On Thursday, the state Department of Natural Resources and the Northwest Straits Commission will try to unsnag the net and pull it from the water. Along with the big net, they're hoping to raise awareness about the problems posed by hundreds of tons of fishing nets lost in Washington waters.
These "ghost nets," as divers call them, can continue to fish for decades. Fish get trapped in them, in turn attracting other fish and marine life which enter the nets to feed. Diving birds, whales and even people can get entangled and die.
Four years ago, an experienced recreational diver died after getting caught in discarded fishing lines in Puget Sound near Tacoma. Megan Reehling, 42, was working with other divers on Earth Day to clean up derelict fishing line and nets. She had a knife with her but ran out of air before she could get free.
"It's extremely dangerous," said Doug Williams, senior master diver and resource manager at the Department of Natural Resources.
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